Safety Board Slams Dutch for Airline Crash Report

In the tight-knit world of aviation-crash investigators, experts from one country rarely go public with criticism of another government’s experts.

But in a recent breach of that tradition, the National Transportation Safety Board slammed its Dutch counterpart for preparing an allegedly mistake-riddled draft report of a probe into a Turkish airliner that crashed last year , killing nine people, while approaching Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

In a sharply worded critique released earlier this month, U.S. investigators said the Dutch Safety Board initially failed to adequately consider multiple onboard system failures and the underlying reasons for pilot lapses. The “omission diminishes the effectiveness of the [accident] report” and overlooks broader issues related to pilot awareness and training, according to U.S. officials.

The NTSB even faulted the Dutch for failing to properly differentiate between the cockpit controls of Boeing and Airbus jets. One section of the Dutch draft said the Turkish plane was equipped with a system that issued warnings about an impending stall by vibrating “control stick(s).” The U.S. response pointed out that Boeing Co. planes “have control wheels and columns,” while the term “stick” usually refers “to a different type of control device” found on other makes of planes. Airbus jets all have modified computer joysticks in their cockpits.

NTSB representatives participated in the investigation along with manufacturer Boeing and others, but the Dutch led the overall effort. The final report, issued this month, however, fixed the factual errors and incorporated most of the FAA’s additional suggestions. The investigators remained unanimous about the main conclusion: a malfunctioning altimeter that caused engines to idle.

NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said the comments were not intended to embarrass Dutch officals, but rather to highlight “issues that weren’t fully addressed” in the draft. Dutch offiicials weren’t immediately available for comment.

In the past, British aviation investigators threatened to stop sharing some information with the NTSB after complaining that U.S. officials prematurely released details about two other crashes. That dustup didn’t result in a serious break, though the latest disclosures could prompt other governments to be more leery of working with the U.S. on future airliner crashes.

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